Integrated circuits (ICs) are typically manufactured as part of wafers which include many dies. Each of these dies may be integrated circuits designed to meet certain predefined criterias. However, although the integrated circuit process attempts to meet these predefined criterias, there is typically a substantial distribution of the resulting ICs in meeting these criterias. An example of a predefined criteria is a predetermined speed at which the IC runs. If some of the ICs are out of the acceptable range of meeting the predetermined criteria, they are typically thrown away. For example, there may be 1,000-2,000 dies on a wafer. If a predefined criteria for these dies is a given operating speed of the die, then the wafer typically produces a percentage of dies that are too fast to be within the predefined operating speed as well as another percentage of dies that are too slow to be within the predefined operating speed. These dies that are either too fast or too slow are typically thrown away. Since the cost of the production of IC wafers are high, it is extremely expensive to throw away a substantial portion of the wafer.
It would be desirable to be able to use a higher percentage of dies on a wafer. The present invention addresses such a need.